Carleton College kicks off the 2015-16 academic year with a special all-college assembly and celebration featuring presentations by U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, along with distinguished alumna and trustee Carol Barnett ’86, on Monday, Sept. 14 at 3 p.m on the lawn west of Hulings Hall. The event, which is free and open to the public, begins with the College’s traditional academic procession. Opening Convocation will also be recorded and archived for on-demand viewing at go.carleton.edu/convo/.
In January 2007, Klobuchar became the first woman elected to represent the State of Minnesota in the United States Senate. Klobuchar is currently one of twenty female senators serving in the 113th United States Congress. She is ranking senate member of the Joint Economic Committee and a member of the President’s Export Council and the Senate Commerce Committee. She also serves as the ranking member on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights.
The New York Times named Klobuchar as one of the seventeen women most likely to become the first female President of the United States, and MSNBC and The New Yorker have named her a possible nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Considered to be one of the Senate’s most candid—and funniest—women, Klobuchar recently released her autobiography, entitled “The Senator Next Door: A Memoir from the Heartland” (Henry Holt and Co., 2015), which tells the story of her life and her unshakeable faith in our democracy. “I wrote 'The Senator Next Door' because I want more people to have faith that our democracy can get things done for the people of this country,” she says. “I hope my story will encourage more people to get involved and practice politics the way I think it ought to be practiced — always looking for common ground and truly enjoying the people you meet along the way.
Klobuchar will appear at Content Bookstore in downtown Northfield on Monday afternoon to talk about and sign copies of her book. The event begins at 12:30 p.m, and Klobuchar will be available until 2 p.m. Content Bookstore is located at 314 Division St., in Northfield. Copies of the book will be available for purchase at the event. For more information on the event, call 507-222-9238.
Barnett has had a very successful career in the medical technology industry. She most recently served as the chief commercial officer of Anika Therapeutics, a global medical technology company at the forefront of pain management, tissue regeneration, and wound healing. At Anika, Barnett was responsible for all global commercial and marketing functions and activities at the company’s locations in the United States and Italy.
Prior to that, she worked at Medtronic, a world leader in medical device technologies, where she served for 15 years in a variety of marketing and management capacities, including vice president and general manager.
After graduating from Carleton College with a BA in economics, Barnett began her professional career in 1986 as an investment banking financial analyst at Morgan Stanley in New York. During four years at the firm, she served in the corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions groups. In 1990, she received an MBA, with honors, from the Harvard Business School.
Barnett serves as a trustee for Carleton College and is a community volunteer for Free Arts, a weekly creative arts program in St. Paul, Minnesota, for children ages 6-12.
For more information about this event, including disability accommodations, contact the Carleton College Office of College Communications at (507) 222-4308.
